AkalaBeth

About

Akalabeth: World of Doom, an early Apple II role-playing game, directly preceded the Ultima series; several of its dungeon layouts and monster designs carried over into the first Ultima games. This repository preserves the original Applesoft BASIC source listing for Akalabeth as it ran on the Apple II, along with screenshots covering character creation, the overworld, towns, Lord British's castle, and monster encounters. The author notes there is no save-game option, so an interrupted game must be restarted from scratch.

Getting started

A game begins by picking a random seed and difficulty, then rolling attributes by repeatedly pressing N until you're satisfied, and choosing to play as a fighter (who can use the magic amulet but not rapiers or bows) or a mage (the reverse). From there you explore a 20x20 overworld containing a town, a castle, a mountain, and a dungeon, taking quests from Lord British that increase in difficulty, ending with a Balrog quest.

Known issues & limitations

• gameplay: No save game option; players must start over if they quit.

Additional notes

Provenance

Because the game circulated in BASIC, many altered copies exist online (commonly with a modified Magic Amulet); the author believes this particular listing is the unmodified original.

Note

Monsters retreat when critically hurt and must be chased down to finish off — a feature the author notes wouldn't reappear until Ultima II.